UT track coach Thornton to retire

AUSTIN — Bubba Thornton, who led the Texas men’s track and field team to 12 conference championships in 18 seasons with the Longhorns, will retire this summer, the school announced Monday.

The Longhorns plan to reorganize their track and field programs with one head coach for both the men’s and women’s teams. Other powerhouses in the sport, including Texas A&M, have such an arrangement. In a press release, UT said Thornton and athletic director DeLoss Dodds “agreed mutually” to terminate Thornton’s contract to allow for the merger.

Thornton, who worked 32 years overall as a track coach, led the Longhorns to 19 Top-10 national finishes in indoor and outdoor seasons combined. He coached 26 individual NCAA champions at UT, and was named Big 12 coach of the year 10 times. This season, UT won the Big 12 indoor and outdoor titles and finished sixth at the NCAA outdoor championships.

His departure comes five months after the Longhorns forced women’s coach Bev Kearney to resign, citing her relationship with a student-athlete a decade earlier. In March, Kearney filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Texas Workforce Commission.

In the complaint, Kearney alleged that Thornton repeatedly demeaned her, tried to undermine her and accused her of breaking NCAA rules. UT officials have said they disagree with the allegations in the complaint, but are reviewing them thoroughly.